This invention generally relates to the field of sporting goods and equipment, and more particularly to a portable means for supporting a net required for net games, such as tennis, badminton, volleyball, or the like.
The interest in the game of net games has increased during the last several years and there are many new tennis courts. However, there is a need for simple, economical and efficient net supports that can be set up quickly and efficiently and can easily be transported and stored.
Applicant is aware of the following prior art:
U.S. Pat. No. 494,913 to Booth for a lawn tennis fork.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,327,072 to Thorward for a game apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,937,872 to Gilman for a self-erecting football dummy.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,139 to Barnes for an out-of-bounds wand for volleyball net and support strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,719 to Lee for a portable ball target.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,968 to Peterson for a mini-volleyball court layout utilizing net support pots with heavy round bases.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,299 to Brown for a tennis game apparatus kit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,716 to Ginsburg for a portable means for supporting a net utilizing a tripod at each post and a weight for holding the posts in place. These tripods are difficult to transport and the weight is backward and heavy to transport.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,561 to Morgan et al for a volleyball practice apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,163 to Schoenig for a portable volleyball apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,112 to Stettner et al for an adjustable standard for net games.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,382 to Wheeler for a portable volleyball net support system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,477 to Pardi for a game net assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,150 to Daly, Jr. et al for a volleyball practice system.
The present invention overcomes the limitations of the short comings of the prior art and discloses a structure that can be used on most suitable surfaces and can be folded to a compact package of minimum dimensions for transportation and storage.